Abstract
The objective of the present study was to evaluate acid-insoluble ash (AIA) as a marker for the calculation of digestibility in growing pigs. Four pigs were housed in individual metabolism crates. During period one, pigs were randomly allotted to two treatments. In Treatment 1, two animals were fed a corn and soybean meal based diet (standard diet). In Treatment 2, two other animals were fed a diet mixed with 30% dried apple pomace into the standard diet (apple pomace diet). Celite of 2% was added to each diet as a source of AIA. During period two, the pigs were assigned the reversed treatments. Fecal AIA recovery was 98.4 and 95.5% for the standard diet and the apple pomace diet, respectively. Mean dry matter digestibility value in the standard diet was 83.0 and 82.7% for total collection method and AIA method, respectively, and that in the apple pomace diet was 77.4 and 76.4%, respectively. Mean crude protein digestibility value in the standard diet was 83.6 and 83.4% for total collection method and AIA method, respectively, and that in the apple pomace diet was 69.4 and 67.9%, respectively. In conclusion, AIA added with celite can be a reliable marker for the measurement of digestibility for pigs.
